Final NFL Draft projection for Alabama football first-rounders
By Ronald Evans
Top NFL Draft experts have four, former Alabama football players being selected in Thursday night’s first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
Any Alabama football fan seeking to grasp what happens during an NFL Draft? The best explanation comes from the 2014 film Draft Day when Kevin Costner tells a rival GM, “we live in a different world than we did just 30 seconds ago.”
Yes, deals change rapidly in the hours leading up to each NFL Draft and continue that pace until the draft ends. Mock Drafts are ‘fools gold’ beyond the top one or two picks. On Thursday night, no former Alabama football player will be drafted first or second.
Still, it is good to know what the top NFL Draft experts are predicting. Just as in our earlier 2018 Draft projection posts, we concentrate our attention on three experts: Peter King, Mike Mayock and Charlie Campbell. Why? Each has either an enviable track record or close connections to NFL execs or both.
Peter King is not big on mocks. His most recent is from Monday. If we did not already respect King, the sub-headline from his Monday story would alone rein us in.
"There is no normal in the 2018 NFL Draft, where waffling logic and super-secret general managers make predictions nearly impossible."
Check out who goes where from our trio’s first-round predictions.
Minkah Fitzpatrick
King has Minkah at No. 7 to Tampa Bay
Mayock predicts No. 12 pick to the Colts (after a trade with Buffalo)
Campbell predicts No. 14 to Green Bay
Da’Ron Payne
King has Payne as No. 20 to Detroit
Mayock predicts No. 17 to the Chargers
Campbell predicts No. 17 to the Chargers
Calvin Ridley
King has Ridley as No. 24 to the Carolina Panthers
Mayock predicts No. 24 to Carolina
Campbell predicts No. 16 to the Ravens
Rashaan Evans
King has Evans No. 23 to New England
Mayock predicts No. 25 to the Tennessee Titans
Campbell predicts No. 23 to New England
Four first-rounders would match Tide record
Four NFL first-rounders in 2018 would tie previous Alabama football draft records. There is a chance, Ronnie Harrison could make it five, first-rounders. That is good news for Tide fans.
Hidden inside some other first-round projections is some, not-so-good news for a couple of former Alabama football players.
Mike Mayock believes the Bills will work a trade with the Colts to move up to the sixth pick. He predicts the Bills will use that sixth pick to draft QB, Josh Allen. Allen might not be the starter in week one, but he would be the Bills’ franchise QB and that does not bode well for A.J. McCarron long-term.
Peter King has the 49ers picking former Georgia linebacker, Roquan Smith at No. 9. Smith is a tremendous player for any team, but perhaps the 49ers are looking for a replacement for Reuben Foster. Foster’s legal problems may be diminished by reports on Wednesday his girlfriend announced she lied about Reuben hitting her in a domestic dispute. Mike Mayock has the 49ers choosing CB, Denzel Ward with the No. 9 pick.
Next: Tony Brown makes episode of 'Bama Cuts' an instant classic
The 2018 NFL Draft kicks off at 7 PM CST, Thursday night in Dallas. If Charlie Campbell is correct, Alabama football will have 11 former Tide players selected in the draft’s seven rounds. That would be a new Crimson Tide record.